England’s National Health Service (NHS) has proposed changes to its constitution that mark a landmark move against gender ideology following the release of a report that denounced treating children with puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.
A rejection of the language of gender ideology and a return to single-sex hospital spaces based on biological sex are among the proposed changes to the health service’s constitution – all of which will be subject to an eight-week review.
“We are defining sex as biological sex,” the Telegraph quoted NHS Tuesday, referring to the anticipated groundbreaking change following the release of a final report in April by British pediatrician Dr. Hilary Cass.
Cass’ independent review found the so-called “gender-affirming care” model of medical intervention for young people is based on “remarkably weak evidence,” yet the medical field has not exercised caution in recommending the treatments.
“The reality is that we have no good evidence on the long-term outcomes of interventions to manage gender-related distress,” Cass wrote.
The report noted that “multiple studies” were found to show that while puberty blockers suppress signs of sexual maturation, they also compromise bone density and fertility and can lead to other harmful effects.
Maya Forstater, chief executive of the gender critical group Sex Matters, referred to the shift in focus to biological sex as a “return to common sense and an overdue recognition that women’s wellbeing and safety matter”:
“Sex, of course, is a matter of biology, not identity, and it is welcome that the NHS is now spelling this out in relation to single-sex accommodation and intimate care … Healthcare providers have become confused and frightened by the idea that a gender recognition certificate, or even just a personal identity claim, overrides other people’s rights when it comes to same-sex care from healthcare professionals.”
Among the expected changes announced by Health Secretary Victoria Atkins are a ban on terms such as “chestfeeding.”
As CatholicVote reported in February, a leaked letter from University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, claimed milk from both women who gave birth to babies and men who took hormone drugs to induce lactation are equally “human milk” and “ideal food for infants.”
In July 2023, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) similarly endorsed induced lactation in biological men identifying as women, claiming these men can “chestfeed” infants with the aid of drugs – even though there has been no research on the long-term effects on infants of drug-induced lactation “milk” in an adult male.
Other terms proposed to be prohibited in the biologically-based NHS constitution are “people who have ovaries,” which has been a replacement for the term “women.”
“We have heard farcical stories that claimed patients who demanded to be on single-sex wards were equated to racists — this cannot be right,” Atkins told The Times. “We are launching a consultation on changes to make sure the fundamental principles that underpin all parts of the NHS are based on biological sex.”
Atkins said the intense focus on social justice issues has shifted attention away from treating patients in the country’s national health system.
Consequently, she recommended cuts in diversity and inclusion staff.
“Every single penny counts and I do wonder whether those roles are as essential as some of the other roles we are recruiting to,” she said. “So my challenge to NHS England is to say we’ve had now a great deal of time to ensure that we are trying to be understanding and inclusive and responsive to people’s needs, we don’t need separate roles.”
“[L]anguage used by the NHS should ‘be clear and make sense to people,’” Atkins asserted, and not “eradicate women.”
“I would love for it to be business as usual for people to understand that when a woman walks into a maternity unit, we ask her what she wants to be called and if she wants to be called a mother or a mum or a woman, then we all respect that, we don’t try to use artificial language,” she added.
Women and Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch has also supported a push to “kick gender ideology out of the NHS.”
“Single-sex spaces are essential for ensuring privacy and dignity for women,” she said.
Another push for change last month came from a coalition of 130 Members of Parliament (MPs), peers, doctors, psychiatrists, and academics – all demanding a public inquiry into the prevalence of gender ideology in schools and within the NHS.
The group wrote of the dangers of social and drug-induced “transition”:
Encouraging confused and vulnerable children to transition, socially or medically, including with puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, has caused irreversible developmental issues, physiological damage (such as loss of bone density, infertility and sexual dysfunction) and significant social and relational harms.
“We believe this is a major scandal that requires a public inquiry,” the coalition wrote. “This should consider the extent to which state and non-state institutions have failed in their duty of care by supporting, encouraging or facilitating a model of ‘gender-affirming transition’ towards children who believe they are transgender.”